Plenty Of D Still in Sick Bay As Season Approaches

Mike Green returned to the ice. Danny DeKeyser returned to action. That was the good news. Elsewhere along the blueline of the Detroit Red Wings, there is still plenty of cause for concern. Green (viral infection of the liver) skated Saturday for the first time since his illness was diagnosed. “It’s good that he’s skating,… Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “I talked to our training staff today and they can’t give me any kind of real time line yet, so we’ll just keep taking it day by day in a sense that we hope to keep seeing how he progresses. We’ll take another blood look and see where his numbers are it. “I would rule him out for the opener.… DeKeyser was slated to see his first game action since Sept. 23 as the Wings played host to the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday at Little Caesars Arena. He was confident he’d be good to go in Thursday’s season opener. “For sure,… DeKeyser said. “This will be my third game. I think that’s plenty of games for the preseason. A few good practices this week and I’ll be ready to go.… The news was not as positive in the cases of Trevor Daley and Jonathan Ericsson, both out with lower-body ailments. “They’re both day to day,… Blashill said. “We’re not making our judgment today on whether they play Thursday. I’d want them to both be able to practice Tuesday and Wednesday to play Thursday.… What’s It Mean? While several bubble players, including forward Filip Zadina and Evgeni Svechnikov and defensemen Joe Hicketts and Libor Sulak were to be given one last audition in Saturday’s preseason finale against the Maple Leafs, both defenseman Dennis Cholowski and forward Michael Rasmussen were given the night off. Is that an indication that we should believe that a decision has been already made regarding their future? “You can, but I’m not,… Blashill said. “They’ve all played lots of games. You can read whatever you want into it, but we’ll keep making evaluations.… Two More Assigned The Wings sent two more players to AHL Grand Rapids on Saturday. Assigned to the Griffins were goalie Patrik Rybar and defenseman Jake Chelios. Rybar saw action in one preseason game, stopping all 10 shots in 30:19 of work and getting the win in a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sept. 20. Chelios, the son of Hall of Famer and former Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios, played two games, recorded no points and was even. Follow me on Twitter @asktheduffer